Ariana Grande Addresses Criticism Over Voice Change for ‘Wicked’

Ariana Grande is calling out the criticism she has received over her voice change for her Wicked role.

The singer, who is set to star as Glenda alongside Cynthia Erivo in the Jon M. Chu-directed film based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book, has been called out online for her different speaking voices.

After she appeared on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed, the singer addressed the mockery on TikTok over her voice seemingly being heard in different registers. “I intentionally change my vocal placement (high/low) often depending on how much singing i’m doing,” she wrote at the time. “I’ve always done this BYE.”

In an interview with Vanity Fair published Monday, Grande reflected on the conversation surrounding her voice change for the role: “There is a part of the world that isn’t familiar with what it takes to transform your voice, whether it’s singing or taking on a different dialect for a role or doing a character voice for something.”

Grande also called out the double standard that exists when a male actor can alter his voice for a role.

“When it’s a male actor that does it, it’s acclaimed,” Grande said. “There are definitely jokes that are made as well, but it’s always after being led with praise: ‘Oh, wow, he was so lost in the role.’ And that’s just a part of the job, really.”

“Tale as old as time being a woman in this industry,” she added. “You are treated differently, and you are under a microscope in a way that some people aren’t.”

Austin Butler was another star who notably got attention for his voice change for his Oscar-nominated performance as Elvis Presley in Elvis. Filming for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis went on for three years given the pandemic occurred and Butler was consistently questioned on the deeper register of his voice during the films’ promotional run and awards campaign.

“I don’t even think about it. I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot,” he said backstage at the 2023 Golden Globes. “I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time, and I had three years where that was my only focus in life. So I’m sure that there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way.”

Despite the conversation surrounding her voice while promoting Wicked, Grande said, “It’s something that I’m just really proud of.”

“Part of why I did want to engage [on TikTok] is because I am really proud of my hard work and of the fact that I did give 100 percent of myself, including my physicality, to this role. I am proud of that, so I wanted to protect it,” she said.

The first of Chu’s two Wicked movies releases Nov. 27 in theaters.